Driving in hot weather: Chillows?
 

I've seen Chillows advertised on television and in stores for sale priced at $10. They are pillow pads that you place in your freezer and claim to keep you cool as you sleep at night.

Being a Native Texan, I'm all too aware of the heat here during summer.


I've been curious lately if using a couple of these on your driver's seat would help keep one cool during the summertime as opposed to using the air conditioner.


Has anyone else thought of this before or something similar?


Could this work and cut down on fuel consumption?



Thanks!

I've had the idea as well and have even taken ice packs and put them in a custom made seat cover. I've found that for anything longer than a 15min. drive they usually don't work all that well. I've never heard of the Chillow though. So maybe it would work better?

I think that air flow is just as important as temperature in order to make you feel less hot.

I was contemplating what I could do to reduce A/C usage other than drive when it's cooler during the day.


I wish I had more ideas.

Yes, I have done this with ice packs and with other things that have come along somehow for free, but no "Chillows." A small icepack behind my lower back in the seat does nicely for a while. An average person's blood circulates fully once per minute or minute-and-a-half. It's like a human cooling system. Your blood circulates instead of coolant. Instead of a radiator the icepack cools the "fluid" as it passes a cooler surface.

Effect is stronger when you tolerate direct contact with skin! :)

Very nice! :)


How long will they stay cold? Should I keep extra in a small ice chest?

I can't say really. But it is more than 15 mins in my experience. I have not done it this summer yet. All I used was a small plastic seal ice pack maybe 4"x4"x1" or something. I move it around behind me. The key, I think is that it's against your skin with little or nothing between it and flesh (maybe your shirt). It is wicked cold at first, but in the strong heat, that's a relief. The great thing about direct contact is that you can continue to benefit from it even as the ice gets fairly melted, since anything close to your skin that is cool provides a kind of relief on the hottest days, like a cool glass of water touching the forehead. I also liked how the small brick was neat clean and portable, I just brought it inside, rinsed it, and threw it into the freezer again. I have done that at work too, for the ride back home later...

Yes, yes and yes. I have been experimenting with something like this on highway trips last summer and this summer and have gotten some of my highest tank averages ever. (Just shy of 1,000 miles on 16 gallons of diesel) I am using a chiller I got after an injury, used to reduce swelling. After I healed the device was just sitting around so I decided to re-purpose it. Basically it is like a small cooler filled with ice and water with an electric pump and two insulated hoses. When it is plugged in it circulates the chilled water through a bladder that I placed at the back of my neck below the headrest. It works surprisingly well and lasts for about 2-3 hours, depending on sun and outside temperatures.

Low Tech A/C
 

I use a beaded seat cover and a "Tornado" fan that blows a strong breeze directly at my chest and head. I got both items on Amazon, but you can also
get the fan at a Pilot Truck stop for about $25. The beaded seat cover was about $33. It allows your sweat to evaporate as the air circulates between you and the seat. I guess that's why you see so many drivers in other countries using items like this.

I also turn on the fan in the dash on outside air (no A/C) to bring in fresh air since I also have my windows rolled up for aero.

This works great up to about 90 degrees outside and I am able to tolerate it up to about 98 degrees.:o



http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/P1010157.jpg






http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps4a9842b4.jpg

Nothing can replace good old fashion AC. I had a fan and beaded seat cover, but I still had a shirt soaked in sweat. :eek:

Thanks everyone!

I will try these different techniques to see which works best for me.


I think investing in window tint may help as well.


This is what I already do to help keep it cool...


-Park in shade as much as possible
-Use sun shades on both front and rear windows
-Keep windows cracked for air flow
-Roll down windows using battery power before starting car
-Turn on air vents

Do the beaded seat cover really help? Because right now I can tolerate ~95 with the windows up drawing in outside air before I have to either turn on the A/C or roll down the windows. If the beaded seat covers really help, I could probably tolerate 105+ without an issue.

Also, can I get a link to the one you have? I already found the tornado fan, but I would like to get that exact seat cover as well since it seems to fit your seat so well (I have same seats in the HX).

Hey Balto I just went to Amazon and put in beaded seat covers. I don't have a part number, but I got the larger and wider type that cover the entire seat and seat back.

I have never tried the "taxi driver" beaded cushions. Do those really help? Chillows is an interesting idea. It'd help on those days when I hit up work in the afternoons, useless if I go in on a morning shift.

As it is, when I'm on my own I don't even consider A/C. I used to when I was sick or had hangovers, but...even in those cases I no longer use it. I have found, as a native Californian transplanted to Texas, that it has the side bonus of helping me acclimatize to Texas' brutal summers which are both 5-15*F hotter and double to triple the humidity percentage compared to where I grew up.

If I didn't have a/c at home or wherever my destination is, though, I'd just die.

Incidentally, we had no a/c in the house I grew up in. And it worked well.

Free "chillow"
 

I found this little freezer pack abandoned at a schoolyard one weekend a couple years ago... glasses for scale.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1408506267
Small and relatively thin and leak proof, it is easy to place around my body in the car. And it's easy to drop it inconspicuously into the freezer at work. It will get it's first use of the season tomorrow, probably.

I just put on Window tint on today to help reduce the Air con load and make for a more comfortable ride. 20% on the sides and 5% on the rear and 5% on the header of the windshield. It looks so much better. Also
I turn the MAx Air button on only during deceleration to assist braking, then on vent to accelerate. It is amazing how long cool air will still flow.

This is what I always do in my wife's Subaru, and it is one of the few hypermiling techniques she has been willing to adopt herself. It works best with the AC on internal air recirculation, I think, since the inside air is initially cooler and dryer than the outside once you've been running the AC a bit.

I'll just go with this one along with the tornado fan, thanks!

Amazon.com: Zone Tech Natural Royal Wood Bead Seat Cover Massage Cool Premium Comfort Cushion - Reduces Fatigue the Car or Truck or your office Chair: Automotive

Silver lever
 

OK, I need to ask, what is the silver lever with the button on top next to the driver seat?

I use this thing, it's like a giant coolie. I put it in the fridge for about fifteen minutes, and it keeps my back chilled for the entire drive. It stiffens up into crystals when cooled, but if I forget it and leave it in the car all day it turns to liquid.
Got it for like twenty bucks when I was driving the Black Widow, which didn't have any AC, and I still use it in the Turtle, it's awesome!

Turtle has dark tint all around, and I also use sun shades front and rear. The rear is such a long windshield at such a low angle, what I did was get the giant size sun shade for suvs. I fold it over and shove it in the top hinge area, then pull it tight (longways) and slam the latch. This keeps the sun shade tight against the window. There is a little bit sticking outside the car in the rear, and it punched a hole in the sun shade, but it works great, and I'm sure it's keeping the battery way cooler using it. The car is barely warm when I get in, and I live dead center in the state of Florida. Between the tint, sun shades and my coolie for my back, I rarely use the AC.

I also have the rain deflectors on the doors which allow me to keep the windows cracked open all the time. They don't seem to affect the aero much, so I kept them on the car since they're so convenient.

A friend's mom makes those cooling things from scratch, she makes one that go over the head, like a do rag, bandana ones and little neck strip ones. They work freaking awesome. When you slammed the sun shade in the hatch, doesn't that make the hatch leak? Because may do this myself, because it's hotter than hell when I get in my car in the day time.

Nope, it doesn't leak at all, and it rains here basically every day. So far, so good!

Reply to Mcgiiver
 

The silver handle is a hand throttle attached to the gas pedal. It functions as a manual cruise control and allows you to rest your leg on long trips. It also help make precise throttle adjustments when hypermiling.

The "button" on top is a 3/8" lock nut that attaches the handle to the 3/8" all thread rod.

The neck ones are good. We used helmet and neck ones in the desert, and it didn't really matter how long they lasted because we had a cooler with ice water sloshing in the bottom and could toss them in it for a recharge. Dunking these things in cold water chills them quickly but you end up getting soaked- which is fine if it's 120 degrees and you're away from home for a year but isn't what you're looking for as a commuter.

The best personal heat sink I know is a soda can or three. They hold the temp for a long time and if you don't drink them, they're reusable. They're cheap, available pre-chilled everywhere and being in posession of one doesn't automatically make you some crazy-eyed hypermiler.